what is INFANTRY drill like in NY ?

[huntingtonzfines]

im deciding on 11b or 11c (most likely picking 11c) but im just wondering how the drill is every month

the recruiter said they do paintballing and laser tag like WTF ??
if thats how it really is i dont wanna join.

can anyone give me real info on how the drill is, please & thank you

[Mongoose772]

im deciding on 11b or 11c (most likely picking 11c) but im just wondering how the drill is every month

the recruiter said they do paintballing and laser tag like WTF ??
if thats how it really is i dont wanna join.

can anyone give me real info on how the drill is, please & thank you

I'm fairly certain you don't want to use live rounds while performing battle drills, so that statement is not particularly logical. The Infantryman is uniquely tasked with closing with the enemy by means of fire and maneuver in order to destroy or capture him or to repel his assault by fire, close combat, and counterattack.

The quintessential 'Tip of the combat arms spear', the infantry soldier, arguably more than any other MOS in the Army is tasked with fighting America's wars and winning those wars.

I'm sure you will obtain a variety of real world answers on your post regarding the specifics surrounding a typical drill weekend, and personally I haven't been a member of an infantry company since 1992, so I can't give you reliable feedback. However, "Playing paintball and lazer tag" using the tactics, techniques and proceedures of an infantry rifle platoon is much more complex than you think.

[iambrian90]

Here in VA, we generally don't even pull the rifles out. There is no need. Occasionally we will roll around in the humvees and practice cordoning off areas, setting road blocks, and doing riot control (we are on state duty). laser tag and paintball sounds more like RSP type stuff though. Dont be surprised if you do join though and you don't do a whole lot of training at drill.. there is just no funding to make it happen, so commanders save all their high speed training for AT, and that is where you go through thousands of rounds, and battle drills, room clearing and the like. As an 11C I can promise you that you wont be out shooting mortars every drill. Those things are incredibly expensive. You might practice setting them up, aiming, and keeping proficient with them though.. But again, everything is Unit dependent.

[SteveLord]

For Iowa, AT is the only time we could drop mortar rounds. And that involves a drive to Camp Ripley, MN. Speaking of expensive explosives, you'll also find that is the case with AT4 and M203 rounds. But there are training replacements to use instead.

[iambrian90]

we just use bang bangs and sticks. i think we were more high-speed playing cowboys and indians in kindergarten lol

[huntingtonzfines]

So basically I won't be doing any "real" training it'll just be play time

[Hunter]

So basically I won't be doing any "real" training it'll just be play time

What is real training as opposed to fake training? Training is training, plain and simple--some of it is more elaborate than others, but at the end of the day you'll know how to do your job.

[huntingtonzfines]

thats true but i mean no rifles ?
i understand no firing live rounds but at least blanks or just a plain rifle with no ammo is better because itll get everyone used to moving with a weapon

[Hunter]

Ever cleaned an M16 for 14 hours? That's why you won't use blanks very often. You will have plenty of opportunities to move with ducks though.

[huntingtonzfines]

Ever cleaned an M16 for 14 hours? That's why you won't use blanks very often. You will have plenty of opportunities to move with ducks though.

no i havent but i heard that carbon is crazy with blanks haha but what are ducks ?
sorry im only 18 i dont know all these high speed terms

[Hunter]

no i havent but i heard that carbon is crazy with blanks haha but what are ducks ?
sorry im only 18 i dont know all these high speed terms

Carbon is ridiculous with blanks; the novelty of blanks and mortar sims wears off pretty quickly. I just got back from a two week course where three days were spent in the field with all of that high speed stuff. The last day was spent meticulously cleaning every nook and cranny of the weapon which had been dropped in the mud, dragged through the grass, etc. Just pray that you don't have to put blanks through a SAW or 240B. Ducks are just fake weapons that you don't have to clean.

I'm in intel, and I've had plenty of experience with that stuff. Infantry certainly sees more of it than we do. Don't base your perception of training on whether you need paintball equipment, blanks, MILES gear, etc., because in the end you'd be amazed at how much you can learn without it.

[iambrian90]

trust me when I say blanks are the most lowspeed things you can use. They sound like bouncing ping pong balls, and then the cleaning is insane. After OSUT, you will have had your fair share of carrying a rifle around everywhere, and will welcome not having molle gear on and your hands full 24/7. Of course, when you are out in the field for drill you will most likely have all of your gear. Depending on the unit, you might be doing a lot of riot control type stuff. For instance, with the inauguration coming up, all of the guard units in the area on state duty will be helping with security, so obviously training in room clearing and battle drills is not going to be that important for the mission. when you go to deploy, you will go to a MOB site, be it Camp Shelby or some other base, and there you will spend a few months doing tactics, shooting, and doing all the "highspeed training", which will only bounce off what you have already learned and walked through at drill. You need to learn how to walk before you can run.

[SteveLord]

Sometimes I would just yell "Bang!" instead of spending the blanks. Usually these were during an exercise where we weren't issued very many anyway, and you would often have to resort to doing that eventually.

Rubber duckies or ducks are replica weapons that are just a solid mold. Police and martial arts facilities use them a lot as well. Can give trainees the weight, feel and dimensions of a real weapon, without having to go through the hassle of issuing one. For me, I don't recall ever using them beyond BCT/AIT.

[eleven hotel]

UTM rounds in force on force training missions, especially MOUT. now that's training.

[LRSU_Dog]

Paintball systems are great for close-quater combat training... you know where you shot and what on you may have also... when you think of "paintball" do not think of a bunch of yahoo's acting out soldier fantasies - every aspect of training whether in the field or in the classroom is to help you develop the "muscle-memory" of how to do things - so when you are in the real situation of needing to do something it is second nature.

Think of this, did you know that doing a "police call" of an area is also real training for those who are in recon and sniping? How can picking up various sized trash during clean-up help me with these skills, you ask... Think attention to detail, situation awareness, etc. If you can locate a staple on the ground amidst grass and rocks and pavement, how would this translate to spoting an enemy sniper or spotter? If you were an Imagery Analyst, would this help spoting something obscure in a photo? What about the IT guy looking for something in a line of programming code, or a router config?

Training is what you make of it, and can seem simple and even stupid - but when you think about it, the lessons you can take away from anything you do, whether Infantry or another MOS; training is what you make of it, and what you take away from it. Even when you have to be very creative to see the "big picture" or just as creative to create training with a real world learning objective.

[huntingtonzfines]

Paintball systems are great for close-quater combat training... you know where you shot and what on you may have also... when you think of "paintball" do not think of a bunch of yahoo's acting out soldier fantasies - every aspect of training whether in the field or in the classroom is to help you develop the "muscle-memory" of how to do things - so when you are in the real situation of needing to do something it is second nature.

Think of this, did you know that doing a "police call" of an area is also real training for those who are in recon and sniping? How can picking up various sized trash during clean-up help me with these skills, you ask... Think attention to detail, situation awareness, etc. If you can locate a staple on the ground amidst grass and rocks and pavement, how would this translate to spoting an enemy sniper or spotter? If you were an Imagery Analyst, would this help spoting something obscure in a photo? What about the IT guy looking for something in a line of programming code, or a router config?

Training is what you make of it, and can seem simple and even stupid - but when you think about it, the lessons you can take away from anything you do, whether Infantry or another MOS; training is what you make of it, and what you take away from it. Even when you have to be very creative to see the "big picture" or just as creative to create training with a real world learning objective.

makes sense thanks

[kbk1061]

I like your Motivation

[Polo08816]

im deciding on 11b or 11c (most likely picking 11c) but im just wondering how the drill is every month

the recruiter said they do paintballing and laser tag like WTF ??
if thats how it really is i dont wanna join.

can anyone give me real info on how the drill is, please & thank you

Our 11C are OPCON to HHC for most of our training year.

I'm fairly certain you don't want to use live rounds while performing battle drills, so that statement is not particularly logical. The Infantryman is uniquely tasked with closing with the enemy by means of fire and maneuver in order to destroy or capture him or to repel his assault by fire, close combat, and counterattack.

The quintessential 'Tip of the combat arms spear', the infantry soldier, arguably more than any other MOS in the Army is tasked with fighting America's wars and winning those wars.

I'm sure you will obtain a variety of real world answers on your post regarding the specifics surrounding a typical drill weekend, and personally I haven't been a member of an infantry company since 1992, so I can't give you reliable feedback. However, "Playing paintball and lazer tag" using the tactics, techniques and proceedures of an infantry rifle platoon is much more complex than you think.

Technically, most LFXs incorporate some type of battle drill. We do use live rounds on up to platoons size LFXs, but only after we've built up to that level and we're comfortable with it. But yes, you are correct, in that we use live rounds for a small % of our iterations when using the "crawl, walk, run" approach.

Here in VA, we generally don't even pull the rifles out. There is no need. Occasionally we will roll around in the humvees and practice cordoning off areas, setting road blocks, and doing riot control (we are on state duty). laser tag and paintball sounds more like RSP type stuff though. Dont be surprised if you do join though and you don't do a whole lot of training at drill.. there is just no funding to make it happen, so commanders save all their high speed training for AT, and that is where you go through thousands of rounds, and battle drills, room clearing and the like. As an 11C I can promise you that you wont be out shooting mortars every drill. Those things are incredibly expensive. You might practice setting them up, aiming, and keeping proficient with them though.. But again, everything is Unit dependent.

Wow.

Ever cleaned an M16 for 14 hours? That's why you won't use blanks very often. You will have plenty of opportunities to move with ducks though.

Yes, but only for COMET inspections. Over-cleaning rifles actually damages them more than using them. We don't do white-glove level cleanings unless its absolutely necessary.

Paintball systems are great for close-quater combat training... you know where you shot and what on you may have also... when you think of "paintball" do not think of a bunch of yahoo's acting out soldier fantasies - every aspect of training whether in the field or in the classroom is to help you develop the "muscle-memory" of how to do things - so when you are in the real situation of needing to do something it is second nature.

Think of this, did you know that doing a "police call" of an area is also real training for those who are in recon and sniping? How can picking up various sized trash during clean-up help me with these skills, you ask... Think attention to detail, situation awareness, etc. If you can locate a staple on the ground amidst grass and rocks and pavement, how would this translate to spoting an enemy sniper or spotter? If you were an Imagery Analyst, would this help spoting something obscure in a photo? What about the IT guy looking for something in a line of programming code, or a router config?

Training is what you make of it, and can seem simple and even stupid - but when you think about it, the lessons you can take away from anything you do, whether Infantry or another MOS; training is what you make of it, and what you take away from it. Even when you have to be very creative to see the "big picture" or just as creative to create training with a real world learning objective.

Quoted for the truth.